Overlay for half-tone printing



July 15 1924L 1,501,615

,1. B. NEALE:

OVERLAY FOR HALF TONE PRINTING Filed Sept, 17. 1.921

Fig. l.

m34. 7Cv

Patented lJuly 15, 1924i UNITED STATES isernia' PATENT OFFICE.

JOI-IN B. NEALE, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRED W. GAGE, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

OVERLAY FOB' HALF-TONE PRINTING.

Application filed september 17, 1921. serial No. 501,320. Y

To all 107mm t 'may Concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN B. NEALE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Overlays for Half-Tone Printing; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, cle-ar, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement upon my so-called Typolith overlay for which Letters Patent #1,178,869 and #1,178,870 were granted to me April 11, 1916. The object of this invention is to improve the said overlay7 by confining the action of the resilient surface thereof to a plane perpendicular to the opposed surfaces of the impression member and the printing member, and preventing lateral diffusion or stretch of such resilient surface.

The overlay disclosed in my Patent #1,178,869 consists essentially of an overlay of any suitable kind and a resilient cushioning):- sheet or surface opposite the face of the overlay adapted to yieldingly transmit the varying pressure which the overlay is intended to give. The overlay disclosed in my Patent #1,178,870 is formed of material, such as rubber having sufficient inherent elasticity to compensate for minute surface irregularities in the paper or material being printed, and also preferably has a non-shrinlrable backing.

My improvements consist essentially in so making or reinforcing the resilient working surface of the overlay described in said patents, that the resiliency thereof is confined to action perpendicular to the print ing surface-or parallel with the line of application of impression pressure, and lateral stretch thereof is prevented.

Iv will describe the invention as used in connect-ion with the overlay shown in my Patent #1,178,869 which will enable others to readily adopt and use the same in connection with the overlay shown in my Patent :ii-1,178,870, and wit-h other overlays whose working surfaces have sufiicient inherent elasticity to compensate for minute surface irregularities.

In modern press construction the tendency is to reduce make-ready space in order tol secure unyieldingly printing pressure; this lessening of the space necessary for the successful application of the Typolith overlay results in producing abnormal lath eral slippage or crawlingiof the resilient working surface of the Typolith overlay under pressure; and a consequent distortion of the peculiar printing effect,y produced b such overlays. By my'present invention have overcome this objection and rendered the resilient working surface of the Typo-- lith overlay practically immune from such lateral slipping and crawling and renders the resilient working surface more unfailingly effective by confining suoli resiliency to operation in the direction of the application of the printing pressure.

In practically utilizing the invention to accomplish the desired result, a layer of non-stretchable material such as fabric, paper, linen or cloth may be applied to the resilient working surface of the overlay practically becoming an integral part thereof.

This non-stretching layer of material may be place-d upon either one or both sides of the resilient working surface or layer or within such surface, or might be incorporated in the composition forming such surface; the essential requisites being (1st) confining the resiliency of the working surfac@J or layer in one direction or through the layer and thereby preventing objectionable lateral side stretching, slipping or crawling thereof; (2nd) elimination of the crawling or rolling tendency, sometimes due to the use of an unsupportedsheet of resilient material, so that the resilient working surface or layer will hold itself to the exact sur. face` contour of the hard overlay to which the resilient layer is applied.

To enable others to adopt and use the invention I will explain the same more fullywith reference to the accompanying drawings and summarize in the claims the essentials of the invention and novel features thereof for which protection is desired. i

In said drawings Figure 1 represents diagramatically a greatly magnified section of part of a Typolith overlay such as described in my aforesaid patents with one embodiment of the present invention applied thereto.

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are like vieivs showing such an overlay with other embodiments of the. present invention.

As shown in 'Fig'. l of the drawing, 3 is an overlay such as described in my Patent #1,178,869 having a resilient Working surface or layer 4; and applied to the exterior vof such resilient Workingsurface or layer is a sheet or layer of non-stretchable material 7, for the purpose above set forth. its shown in Fig, 2; 3 a layer of non-stretchable material 7a is applied under the Working surface 4, for the purpose above set fort-h. As shown in Fig. 3, a non-stretchable layer 7b is embodied lin the resilient Working` surface t for the purpose specified. As indicated in Fig. 4, non-stretchable material 7 of any suitable kind is incorporated Within the resilient Working surface 4 in any suitable Way, to prevent lateral stretching of the Working' surface while permitting resilient action thereof in a plane perpendicular to the impression surface.

This invention obviates or reduces the tendency of the resilient Working surface or layer i-,to spread and thereby cause improper and undesired overlay printingr pressure beyond the actual surface covered by the overlay. This is accomplished by preventingl any lateral flow or movement of the resilient Working,y surface or layer 4 relative to the overlay or printing surface.

The purpose of the non-resilient material which I use in connection with the resilient Working)r surface or layer is to prevent the resilient Working surface from spreading' out laterally7 and thereby atfectinej the lighter or highlight portions of an overlaid cut; and to conne the pressure of the thicker portions of the hard or basic overlay to the exact portions of the overlaid cut Which may require evtra impression to produce a perfect print.

Typolith overlays are used for very fine screen cuts, and even a very minute lateral spreading or crawling, of the resilient Working surface of such overlays would result in marring the print or lessening the clearness and accuracy of the printed impression. Ey using; the present invention in the Typolith overlays I am able to print highlight portions of extremely Ene line half-tone cuts, or other cuts, as such improved overlays insure accurate pressing of the surface of the paper, upon which the impression is being made, into contact with the printing surface of the cut or plate.

I am aware that non-stretching material has been applied to blankets, etc. for the purpose of equalizing the pressure or producingjT uniformity of pressure or contact surface and for strengthening the blanket etc., but the application of non-stretching means to the resilient Working surface or layer of my patented overlays is novel, and its object is to actually prevent the equalizing of pressure on the overlay in so far as the material is capable of doing it; and to cause the direct transference of what ver eXtra pressure the solid portion of the hard overlay is capable of producing to the surface of the eut to be printed.

That I claim is:

1. F or an overlay comprising a body a resilient Working` surface, and means applied to said surface whereby it is permitted to yield in a direction perpendicular to the printing surface but prevented from stretching' or flowing laterally.

2. For an overlay, a member formed of material providingT in .itself a resilient Working surface, and means applied to said WorkingT surface so that it is yieldable only in a direction perpendicular to the printingl surfaces without lateral stretch or iioxv.

3. For an overlay comprising a hard body` a Working' surface of resilient material, and means for preventing lateral spreadingy of the Working surface While permittingit to yield in a direction perpendicular Yto the printing surface.

4. In combination, an overlay, a resilient Working surface or layer opposite the faee of the overlay adapted to transmit the varying pressure Which the overlay is intended to give, and means whereby such Working surface is prevented from laterally stretching While capable of yielding in a direction perpendicular to the printing surface.

5. In combination, an overlay, a thin resilient Working` surface or layer of suitable material operativ/'ely positioned opposite the face of the overlay to transmit the varying;P pressure which the overlay is intended to give; and a non-resilient layer coextensive with the resilient Working surface, whereby lateral stretch or flow of the WorkingT surface is prevented While it is permitted to yield in a direction perpendicular to the printing surface.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own, I atlix my signature.

JoHN B. NEALE. 

